Cybersecurity
Security by Design
An approach that builds security into a system from the earliest stages of architecture and development rather than adding it afterwards.
Security by design treats security as a first-class requirement throughout the lifecycle — threat modelling during architecture, secure coding and review during development, and hardened configuration at deployment — rather than a bolt-on.
For spacecraft and ground systems, where post-launch patching can be constrained, designing in security from the start is especially important. The principle is reflected in regulatory expectations such as NIS2 and the EU Cyber Resilience Act.